


Say Something

by simply_editing_77



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Badass Keith, Battle, Crying, Don't read unless you're in the mood for some sad stuff, Fighting, Heavy Angst, I'M NOT CRYING YOU ARE, Implied Sheith, It is a battle after all, M/M, Mid-battle scene, Sad, Sad Ending, Some OG Angst, Unrequited Love, War, implied klance, little bit of violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-12
Updated: 2019-07-12
Packaged: 2020-06-26 18:22:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,381
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19773814
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/simply_editing_77/pseuds/simply_editing_77
Summary: What would it be like to not get the chance to say goodbye? How would it feel to not remember the last words you shared, to be the first to notice their absence and yet still be too late?This is a single chapter and could honestly take place at any point during the show or after. I recommend reading this if you feel like indulging depression. Enjoy!!WARNING: MAJOR ANGST





	Say Something

It was evening on Feyiv, and the sky was on fire.

Battleships crowded the sky, obscured by the smoke and ash kicked up by the fighting on the ground. Screams and shouts filled the air, adding to the mayhem of battle as people ran and fell and fought. Indistinct final words of terror were lost to time. Nobody had time to listen to the dying.

Only to count the dead.

Somewhere, a battleship was shot out of the sky and fell burning to the ground. A fresh wave of screams went up as soldiers and innocents alike were crushed beneath the fiery mass. Those that could get free did so with the images of abandoned friends and limbs scorched into their memories, ready to torment them when peace came. _If_ peace came.

In a small corner of the battlefield, two men were fighting back to back, then side by side. Both in black, but it was clear which was the true fighter. While the one in white and black armor stood his ground and cut down those who drew too near, the other cut swaths through the opposing forces with the agility and murderous intent of a panther. Weaving around blades and leaving bodies to drop long after he had signed their death warrants, the assassin only returned to the champion to give the enemy space to approach. Like sheep to a slaughter.

“Keith, duck!!” Shouted the one in white, but Keith had already moved. Every step was calculated, every movement intentional and perfectly balanced. A shot rang out to his left, but he easily sidestepped and cut down the man holding the weapon as almost an afterthought. There was a grunt from behind him, and more bodies fell. Or was it only one?

Keith continued to fight his way through the field, having abandoned the safe circle of Shiro’s steady ground to instead become a blade of retribution. Those dead by the enemy were soon joined by their killers, and the body count grew. Keith had lost sight of where he’d started, but paid no mind as blood turned the dirt into slick mud that threatened to throw him off balance. 

Still, screams rose into the air as though chasing the souls of the dead to a place beyond the battlefield, beyond the ash-filled sky. The sun burned an intense red as it dipped closer to the horizon, its light turning the air crimson- or was that the blood? Its movement as it inched ever-lower was the only indication that time continued to move, and yet still the _screams_. 

There were hours to go before nightfall.

The assassin, the knife, _Keith_ , found that his path had taken him in a giant half-circle that had pushed the front lines further into enemy territory. He’d taken a few wounds that bled openly from his arms and his side, but he knew he had fewer than most. They were the prizes of the forgotten.

Keith took a moment to pause, his mind systematically checking his wounds with an almost mechanic efficiency so as to calculate how much time he needed before returning to the front line. He scanned the battlefield, unfazed by the carnage that he met. The screams continued, and the mumbling voices of the dying or the shell-shocked floated away with the smoke that they all choked on.

As he walked among them, he allowed himself a moment of sorrow for his fallen comrades, those that he had not saved. A moment of satisfaction for those he had avenged. He continued walking, until finally he found familiar ground.

And his world shattered.

Keith’s shield of indifference disappeared, joining the whispers of last words and the invisible waves of heat that warped the air in the light of the setting sun. 

_No. No, it wasn’t possible. No._

A few stumbling steps sent the previously graceful assassin sprawling to the blood-soaked ground, each movement weak from his disbelief. Disoriented, he lifted himself with his hands, only to launch himself to the side in surprised horror when the unseeing eyes of a woman met his own. His hand met something horribly soft, and he pulled his hand away from a disemboweled man in reeling panic. He tried to wipe the blood off using his shirt, but stopped when he realized what else had clung to his skin. Suddenly, Keith became aware of how loudly he was breathing, but it only got worse as he noticed. He cast his eyes about, searching for something, _anything_ familiar to anchor him, and his eyes fell once again on-

“ _Shiro._ ” It came out strangled, as though he hadn’t spoken for days. When _was_ the last time he’d spoken? Crawling forward, his mind eerily quiet, Keith reached the unconscious body of his- “Shiro, wake up.” His voice was under control, his heart rate slowing to something more normal. He couldn’t be dead. It just… wasn’t possible. “C’mon, Shiro, we have to go.” Keith shook him a bit, ignoring the way Shiro’s head lolled to the side in response and the unnatural twisting of his limbs where he’d fallen.

“Shiro, you’re not- you can’t be. No. No no no no.” Keith’s voice was rising in panic, but he could only feel an icy calm as he pulled Shiro into his lap. “Shiro, say something.” 

All of a sudden, the iciness inside of his chest broke and Keith was flooded with a wave of “no no no no no no no. Shiro, _say something. Say- Please, God, no. Shiro, just- just say-”_

A distant shout rang in Keith’s ears, but the screams were too loud. Who was shouting-? _no no no no no-_ Blood was covering Keith’s arms, his unscathed legs drenched. At least one of the gunshot wounds in Shiro’s chest must have gone all the way through- _no Please God no no- “_ Shiro just _say something-”_ Keith’s face was wet.

“Keith-”

Keith’s arms wound tightly around Shiro’s torso and head, heavy and cold in his embrace. Hours must have passed- _no no no no no_ \- His tears were burning his cheeks. “ _I didn’t get to-”_

“Keith.”

“ _say goodbye, I didn’t tell him- I never told him-”_ He rocked back on his heels, keening into Shiro’s chest, unmindful of the blood that mixed with his already wet face.

“Keith. You need to let him go.” 

_No no no no no no-_ Unknown arms dragged Keith to his feet, but his legs gave out and he fell once more to the ground. “ _PLEASE, no, please, Shiro, just say something, just-”_ His words were muffled as someone pulled him into their arms, and Keith’s ranting dissolved into sobs that racked his whole frame. 

Through his tears and cries of anguish, he heard a command given to cover Shiro’s body. Launching himself from the embrace, Keith clawed his way back to Shiro, shoving off the hands that tried to stop him. A blanket was now halfway over Shiro, and although Keith fought to stay next to him, he found himself once again in someone’s strong arms. 

“Keith, it’s me. It’s Lance.” The red paladin’s voice was tight, and he held onto Keith as Keith struggled to return to the ground. He didn’t care who was there. He just needed to get to- “He’s dead, Keith. He’s- Shiro’s dead.”

Keith’s struggling slackened and went limp, but Lance’s grip refused to let him fall to the ground. “No no no no no-” Keith’s muttered prayer broke down until it became one long wail of despair. He tried weakly to fall, to give up and will his life to stop, but the arms kept him stubbornly upright. 

“He was alone. Oh God.” He dimly felt Lance’s arms squeeze him tighter, and part of him acknowledged the sounds of crying around him, but his mind wouldn’t register it until weeks later, awakened alone in the middle of the night by his memories like daggers in his mind. “Please, no. No. He- _I didn’t get to tell him_ . Why did he have to- He was _alone_.”

As Keith’s powerless body was picked up and he felt himself swaying to the footsteps of someone else’s gait, his mind began to fade. Oblivion reached for him, and a plea fell unheard from his lips just before he surrendered.

“ _Say something.”_


End file.
